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Thursday, April 23, 2009

There will be a lot of navel gazing over the weekend -- the regional mayors are holding what's being billed "Imagine the Possibilities" to look at what the region could become in the future with a coordinated approach to setting priorities and planning.It kicks off tomorrow night at the Trade and Convention Center with remarks from Premier Graham and Veterans Affairs Minister Greg Thompson.Saturday will see a number of panel discussions and presentations along with a presentation by consultant Dave Hardy on the potential to directly influence our growth at the Samuel Champlain Center in Millidgeville.The event is being underwritten by Enterprise Saint John on what's described as a "cheap and cheerful" budget.

Saint John resident Frank Collins is well acquainted with the concept of a co-op grocery store. The former Newfoundlander helped open a co-op in his hometown back in the 60's. He tells CHSJ news the South End has a good chance of starting one of their own.

Residents are hoping to get a grocery store in the lower South End neighbourhood that will sell fresh produce and meat at a reasonable price. Collins says his son lives in the area and is always talking about the need for a grocery store closer to people without vehicles.

City police have arrested a man in his twenties after a car chase off the highway this afternoon. Officers followed the man to the Rockland Road and Sommerset Street area where he bailed from his car on a dead-end road. Police tells CHSJ news the man was pursued on foot and arrested a short time later.

No word on why the man ran from police or why he was pulled over, but charges are expected. There was a woman passenger in the vehicle.

(Temporary transformer at head of King Street - photo by Gary MacDonald)

The green monster at the head of King Street will soon be disappearing -- you may remember the temporary transformer unit was installed in February after a water leak in the Royal Bank building caused its transformer to blow taking out about 500-customers in the city center.A replacement transformer arrived earlier this week and crews are busy installing the unit -- once it's hooked up -- the temporary green box on the sidewalk will be removed.

The New Brunswick Securities Commission has fined two Fredericton-based stock promoters 150 thousand dollars for lying to provincial investors. Michael Cody and Donald Nason are the last remaining New Brunswick respondents for Locate Technologies and Tubtron Controls--which have been banned from capital markets in this province and Alberta.

Cody and Nason were involved in soliciting and selling shares while in violation of the Securities Act. They also admitted to misleading officials during an investigation of Locate Technologies and Tubtron Controls. The two men have been permanently barred from trading in securities on behalf of the public, or from becoming an officer or director of any issuer. Cody has been ordered to pay a penalty of 50 thousand dollars and Nason, a penalty of 100 thousand dollars. They must also jointly pay 2 thousand dollars in costs for the hearing.

You may notice a lot of police activity in and around the Mount Pleasant area.City police are looking for a man in his twenties who apparently took off as police tried to pull him over in the Summer Street area a short time ago.He pulled over and bailed a short time later in the Rockland Road and Somerset Street area -- and -- a foot chase is underway.So far no word on why police were attempting to pull over the vehicle -- a woman passenger is being held by police.

The city is looking into the possibility of using GPS tracking technology to monitor the use of municipal vehicles during deliveries. Councilor Gary Sullivan says it will allow management to supervise the fleet during snow removal and garbage pick-up. City manager Terry Totton says they are already being used on city transit buses to determine the length of a run and if a second bus is necessary.

Totton is expected to table a report on the topic at Monday's council meeting.

As we get closer to the warmer weather, as expected, gas prices continue to climb. The Energy and Utilities Board has released it's latest price schedule which shows an increase of just under two cents with the maximum retail coming in at 87.3 cents. Most stations are selling a litre of self-serve for 87.5.

Diesel is actually down over two cents to land at 88.7, furnace oil drops to 69.9 which is down a penny and propane is down percentage points. coming in at 82.8.

The search is on by City Police for thieves that hit a West-Side Business. Officers were called to the King Street West Tim Horton's just after two o'clock to find someone got into the store and got away with alot of cash.